This is straight from an article, which states the rules for a retiring coach.
“An employee under contract to a member club (including a head coach, general manager, or other “high level” employee) who voluntarily resigns or retires prior to the expiration of his contract, is not free to discuss or accept employment with another NFL club without the consent of the prior-employer club,” the memo explains. “This is true for the full remaining term of the employee’s contract. If a club wishes to consent to discussions of a substitute employment arrangement, that club may condition its consent on receiving appropriate compensation from the member club wishing to discuss employment with and/or hire the employee who has ‘retired’ or ‘resigned.’ Once an employee’s contract has expired, the employee is free to seek other employment with another NFL club, assuming there has been compliance with the Anti-Tampering Policy.”
So basically, unless there is an agreement from the NO to allow Payton to seek employment he cannot without consent first. If consent is granted, team "can" ask for compensation. Based on what teams paid for coaches like Parcells, Billichek, Gruden and Holgrem..... if it is anything close to those packages I think the Cowboys would be stupid to act on it. They are better off waiting until Payton's obligation to the Saints is up and than gauge interest in Payton. Interesting enough his expiring contract correlates to Mike McCathys deal with Boys ending (2024)